Blog Posts

Light, shadow, and emotional intelligence Not long ago, I traveled to Barcelona to attend the International Leadership Association’s annual conference. In my first days there, a speaker cautioned us to “be conscious of the shadow your light casts.” For me, his words were contradictory, profound, and soul-stirring. Sitting in a conference room, I pondered my

International travel has a way of humbling us as it forces us to adapt to a different pace and circumstances outside our control. Not long ago, while attending the International Leadership Association Conference in Barcelona, Spain, international travel also taught me an important lesson about four critical concepts for every leader: Listening, Humility, Followership, Gratitude.

Not Just a Trend, Focusing on Culture Helps CEOs Drive Results On the topic of workplace culture, it seems most leaders fall into one of two camps: those that think constantly about culture, and those who never give it thought. Increasingly, the “think about it constantly” camp is growing. In 2014, Merriam-Webster, the dictionary people,

Are you putting your company’s reputation at risk? Dr. Dave Smith (a 2014 graduate of the Ph.D./D.B.A. program in values-driven leadership) draws from research to show one characteristic companies with strong, positive reputations have in common: clarity. Hear more in the video below – or start with Dr. Smith’s first video in this series, which can be

The World Economic Forum released their report, The Future of Jobs, last month, and the research is fascinating. In particular, the report asked chief human resources and strategy officers from leading global organizations to identify the skill sets the workforce of 2020 will need. Compared side by side to the skills identified as needed in 2015,

Forbes Features Friends of the CVDL in New List In late January, Forbes magazine published it’s first list of the best small companies in the country. Explaining what makes these companies so great, Bo Burlingham, the Forbes contributor who organized the list and the original author of Small Giants – the book that inspired the

“Competency to do your job is your ticket to entry,” says podcast host Dr. Linda Sharkey in her opening comments, “but values are really the defining factor. … It is going to be essential going forward.” Sharkey hosted CVDL co-founder and director, Dr. Jim Ludema, on her weekly podcast The Leadership Connection. Ludema tackled the

With a story straight out of a real-life spy thriller, Dr. Dave Smith (a 2014 graduate of the Ph.D./D.B.A. program in values-driven leadership) exposes the dangers of creating false signals within your company, in this short video. Leaders who create inconsistent cultures – who proclaim a culture of customer service, for example, despite behaviors that indicate

CVDL Among Top 10 Ph.D. Programs with an Emphasis on Leadership & Organizational Development For more than 33 years, Leadership Excellence has identified and recognized the top organizations that develop their leaders. This year’s awards had more than 4,500 companies apply and 600,000 people voted on their programs to provide the most comprehensive ratings ever

Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on the blog of our partners, the Small Giants Community. A bowl of popcorn sat at the center of the conference room table, a gift from a colleague. It was filled with a Chicago delicacy—caramel, cheese, and butter popcorn mixed together in a tasty, caloric holiday mix. We made